1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a silicide and a method for fabricating a semiconductor device and, in particular, to a technique capable of forming at a low temperature a highly thermostable nickel disilicide (NiSi2) layer having an edge the position of which is finely controllable.
2. Description of the Related Art
The gate lengths of today's field-effect transistors are reduced to submicron scale in order to facilitate denser and faster semiconductor integrated circuits. Also, the surface of the source/drain layers of miniaturized field-effect transistors is silicided in order to inhibit the resistance of the source/drain layer from increasing. For example, Nitrogen-doped nickel monoSilicide technique for deep submicron CMOS salicide, IEDM 1995, pp. 453-456 (hereinafter referred to as Non-Patent Document 1) discloses a technique for applying nickel monosilicide (NiSi) that can be formed by annealing at low temperatures on the order of 400° C. to a CMOS.